Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Today is St. Patrick's Day, and to celebrate I decided to highlight one of our "green" farming practices...I applied some "Water 'n Poo".

We collected soil samples from around our farm a few weeks ago. The testing results we received listed the soil nutrient levels in each field and pasture we sampled, as well as the recommended amount of fertilizer we will need to apply to sufficiently grow our crops. Based on those results, it looks like our captured dairy manure will provide the right amount of phosphorus and potassium in several different places this spring.

You can learn a little more by watching this "GDF MooTube Minute" I filmed while applying the home-raised, cow-generated fertilizer today.

Friday, March 5, 2010

We're starting to get a little bit busier on the farm now that Winter finally seems to be ending and Spring looks to be right around the corner.

This week we had fertilizer spread over 125 acres of spring forage (oats, wheat, & ryegrass) and hopefully will see some growth over the next couple of weeks. We've submitted soil samples for several other fields so we'll know what the nutrient and liming needs for our summer crops will be. We'll probably plant about 75 acres of corn in late March or early April, and an additional 45-50 acres in our bottomland IF it has dried out enough by early May. Otherwise, we will plant sorghum-sudangrass (sudex) in the bottomland along with the rest of our cropland in June.

On the cow front, we're currently milking 219 and they are averaging about 63 pounds of milk production per day. Our nutritionist has formulated a new ration for us based off the nutritional analysis of our sorghum silage. We'll begin feeding the new ration over the weekend and hope that we'll see a 2-3 pound per cow increase in milk after a week's time.

Amidst everything else that's happening on the farm, we're also breeding a group of 33 heifers. You can learn more about that project in our newest GDF MooTube Minute:

Meet The Dairyman:

I'm a dairy farmer, family man, & Mississippi State alumnus from Lamar County, Alabama. I'm a former national Young Farmers & Ranchers Chairman, USFRA Face of Farming & Ranching, and currently serve as President of the Lamar County Farmers Federation and Chairman of the Alabama Dairy Producers Committee.